Is it possible to change the color of tiles to another color? I have gray ceramic tiles on kitchen floor.?

Question

The tiles are 12x12 and look like crap and I just think it would be easier to change the color than remove about 25sq ft of tile!

Answer 1

No you cannot. Whatever you apply will wear off and look shabby.

Two suggestions. First of all it is not that tough to remove 25 sq ft of tile (few dozen 12x12) as long as you don't want to reuse them. [Smash them and scrape them up does it pretty quickly.] Second would be to remove some of them in a pattern and put in a contrasting color tile to distract from the unattractive-colored ones. [Scrape off the grout surrounding the ones to take out and then punch their center with a cold chisel and demolish the individual tile and scrape off the shards.]

Answer 2

No, tile is essentially rock. You can't change the color. You may want to rent a buffer and try to polish it up. Another thing that changes the look of tile is if you paint/dye the grout. I recently had some stone/slate gray installed in my husbands work shower. We put black grout and it really looks modern and unique.

Another option is to take out a small portion of the tile and install what is referred to as a mat. It is simply tiles turned in a different direction in the middle of the floor. My tile installer turned the tiles in a diamond direction in the middle of the floor, probably about the shape of a rug, and it looks great. You probably wouldn't want to use a different style tile.

Answer 3

Believe it or not, you can paint on just about any surface, provided that you have the correct primer applied to a prepared surface. This includes those surfaces one would not usually think of as being paintable, such as (ugly)ceramic tile.

First clean the surface with a good degreaser/cleaner such as TSP (available at the paint store). Remove any loose grout. You can fill in the gaps with a vinyl spackle or paintable caulking.

If the tile is a high gloss, you may want to lightly scuff the surface with some medium grit sandpaper (100 or 120 grit sandpaper).

Brush on an even coat of a water based bonding primer such as UMA White Primer (available at most retail paint stores) It is not necessary to apply a heavy, or solid coat of primer to the tile; a light coating, with some of the tile color showing through, is fine.

Let the primer cure for several days before painting it with your latex paints. Use a high quality, medium sheen water based paint like Benj. Moore’s AquaPearl; two light coats are better than one heavy coat. You can also faux finish the tiles in any color or pattern, again, using high quality water based paints.

After you have finished painting your tiles, protect the surface with 1-2 coats of a low sheen acrylic finish such as Benj. Moore’s Stay Clear Acrylic Finish. If you are going to paint counter top tile or floor tile, apply 3 coats of finish, and let it cure for up to a week before using. (Acrylic finishes dry to the touch very quickly, but require a cure time to reach maximum hardness. This varies according to the thickness of the finish and the relative humidity of the room).

Answer 4

If your tiles are porous you could try using a product by HG called an impregnator (which is a sealer), this you could buy in any good tile shop. Or if the grout joints are a light colour you could try darkening the grout which would change the look of the whole floor, remove the top layer of grout with a grout rake from a DIY store and replace with darker grout. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

You can NOT change the color of tiles - the color is baked into them - sorry................. it would look even worse if you painted over them and since they're on the floor - you'd be removing the paint every time you walked on them. Best thing to do is life with them or remove them.